Biden campaign leans into Pennsylvania roots to woo critical battleground state voters
President Biden’s re-election campaign has kept a keen focus on Pennsylvania going into the November general election, as the state promises to be one of the deciding battlegrounds in the match up. To bolster their efforts, Biden’s team has worked to highlight his connections to the Keystone State, a move which some suggest could tip the scales in this crucial East Coast swing state. “He’s been actively engaged, certainly in southeastern Pennsylvania stuff, forever,” said Daniel Fee, a prominent political strategist in Democratic circles in the Keystone State and founder of The Echo Group, a Philadelphia-based Democratic political consulting firm. He also pointed to Biden’s place of birth in Scranton. “He taught at [the University of Pennsylvania] after he was done being vice president. He married a woman from Pennsylvania [who] wears her Pennsylvania pride proudly,” said Fee. SENATE GRIDLOCK COULD WORSEN WITH ROMNEY, SINEMA, MANCHIN RETIREMENTS: EXPERTS Jack Doyle, Pennsylvania spokesperson for Biden’s campaign, told Fox News Digital in a statement, “This election is about Scranton vs. Mar-a-Lago,” demonstrating the campaign’s effort to draw a contrast between Biden’s more rural roots and former President Donald Trump’s lavish estate in southern Florida. “While Joe Biden is fighting so every Pennsylvanian has a fair shot to get ahead, Donald Trump is fighting his own trials, tribulations and personal grievances,” he said. “In 2020, Pennsylvanians rejected Trump’s extremism and delivered the presidency for Joe Biden, and that’s exactly what will happen again this November.” According to Ray Zaborney, a Pennsylvania Republican strategist, “Biden is trying to remind voters that he’s from Pennsylvania, obviously.” GOP SENATORS AIR ‘DEEP CONCERNS’ OVER NPR BIAS, URGE CEO TO ‘START A COURSE CORRECTION’ The president’s strategy is to portray himself as a “blue collar guy from a blue collar town,” he added. Berwood Yost, director of Floyd Institute’s Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College, noted that candidates are going to use everything they can to their advantage in 2024, given the competitive nature of the state. And “ensuring that the state’s residents know and understand his connections to the state certainly can’t hurt Mr. Biden,” he said. He added that the president “seems to genuinely believe that Pennsylvania in general and Scranton specifically are important pieces for understanding his life’s story, so it makes sense to tell that story to the state’s residents.” As for the effectiveness of Biden’s attempt, Zaborney said, “Politically, though, it doesn’t seem to help much.” He noted that in Lackawanna County, where Scranton is located, both then-gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro and then-Senate candidate John Fetterman outperformed Biden. “He actually underperformed two of the three row officers (treasurer and attorney general) running on the same ticket as he did in 2020,” Zaborney said. And Biden only did “marginally” better than Hillary Clinton in the county, he added. Mark Harris, another GOP strategist in Pennsylvania, remarked that Biden’s connection to the state is “overblown.” TIM SCOTT SAYS BIDEN ‘WILLING TO TANK’ ECONOMY BY GETTING RID OF TRUMP TAX CUTS “I’ve never seen in any of our data any evidence that there’s any sense of Biden being the hometown boy in Pennsylvania,” he said. Harris claimed issues like taxes and immigration far outweigh any influence Biden’s Pennsylvania roots may have. “I know they lean on it a lot, but it certainly isn’t something that I think is an effective gambit for them or approach,” he said. Yost said that Biden’s strategy “probably helped him in 2020, but his standing among the state’s voters has slid since the last election.” He suggested it could potentially help Biden strengthen his standing with those lapsed supporters. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said, “With just 35% job approval, Joe Biden is floundering in his home state of Pennsylvania. Between higher gas prices, surging crime, and failed Democrat policies crushing families at every corner, it’s no wonder that Pennsylvanians across the commonwealth are increasingly rejecting the failed Biden agenda and supporting President Trump.” DEM SENATE CANDIDATE ELISSA SLOTKIN’S ‘SMALL CONSULTING BUSINESS’ MAY HAVE NEVER BEEN ACTIVE Earlier this month, a Fox News Poll showed Biden and Trump in a dead heat in Pennsylvania, 48% to 48%. The vote share between the two in 2020 was 49.85% to 48.69%, Biden to Trump. When including several third-party candidates, Trump defeats Biden by a small margin, 44% to 42%. There is no doubt that Pennsylvania will be close, Pennsylvania Democratic strategist Mike Mikus emphasized. At the same time, Biden’s focus on the Keystone State “definitely helps,” he said. It “reminds people” why they voted for the president in 2020, Mikus said. Fee asserted that Biden’s Pennsylvania affinity was so evident during his career that “he was widely described as Pennsylvania’s third senator.” But Harris pushed back at this, explaining, “He wasn’t the senator from Pennsylvania.” “It’s been so long since he’s had any real ties here,” he said. Harris likened the roots Biden has highlighted in the state to “a one-liner in his biography,” which isn’t going to resonate with Keystone State voters come November. The Pennsylvania Democratic operatives also pointed to the significance of the state’s proximity to Delaware, which Biden had long-represented in the Senate. According to Democratic Pennsylvania strategist J.J. Balaban, “he was a senator in the Philadelphia media market — the largest media market in Pennsylvania — for decades.” This has laid the groundwork for a “cultural affinity that goes beyond where he lived as a boy,” he said.
Trump slams ‘weak’ Columbia president after days of campus chaos: ‘She was so afraid’
Former President Trump railed against the anti-Israel chaos on Columbia University’s campus, calling the school’s president “weak” for not squelching the unrest when it first arose. “New York was under siege last night,” Trump said Wednesday during a rally in Waukesha, Wisconsin. “She waited so long. She was so weak. She was so afraid. She was so bad,” Trump continued, referring to Columbia President Minouche Shafik. “They could have done this with the tents and it would have gone quickly and no problem.” Anti-Israel protesters unified on Columbia’s campus nearly two weeks ago, and have since protested outside the school’s gates, established a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on the Academic Lawn, and even took over a school building, Hamilton Hall, this week. The New York City Police Department, wearing mostly riot gear, conducted a raid inside Hamilton Hall late Tuesday night, clearing the building in about two hours. COLUMBIA COPIED BIDEN’S PLAYBOOK OF ‘DON’T’ WHEN ADDRESSING ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS — THEN IT TRIED TRUMP’S “They did an incredible job. They [overtook] one of the big buildings, beautiful landmark building. Boy, it got the hell beat out of it last night. You know you’re supposed to take care of those buildings. It took a beating. But the police came in. In exactly two hours, everything was over. It was a beautiful thing to watch,” Trump continued. BIDEN ONCE RIPPED ‘ANTISEMITIC BILE’ BUT NOW FACES OWN ‘CHARLOTTESVILLE MOMENT’ The protest on Columbia’s campus is just one of dozens playing out across colleges nationwide, with some of the nation’s most elite universities coping with mass protests and encampments demanding schools divest from Israel. Schools such as UCLA, Yale, Harvard, Fordham and UT Austin are just a few of the schools embroiled in the protests. “We say justice, you say how. Burn Tel Aviv to the ground,” protesters have chanted on Columbia University’s campus in recent days. “Hamas, we love you. We support your rockets, too,” other chants have included. Columbia’s president is facing calls to resign over her handling of the unrest, including New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik urging school trustees to remove Shafik after the school lost control of Hamilton Hall to the radicals on campus. COLUMBIA STUDENT MOCKED FOR VIRAL VIDEO TELLING REPORTERS THAT OCCUPIERS MIGHT DIE WITHOUT FOOD DELIVERY Trump has repeatedly condemned the protests amid his trial in Manhattan, where he is facing 34 felony charges of falsifying business records. Trump has pleaded not guilty to each of the charges, and has largely been kept away from the campaign trail to attend the trial. NYPD CRUSHES ANTI-AMERICAN MOB ON NYC CAMPUSES AS MAYOR BLASTS ‘DESPICABLE’ SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT “What’s going on at the college level… Columbia, NYU and others is a disgrace. And it’s really on Biden,” Trump said last week outside the courtroom. “He’s got the wrong words. He doesn’t know who he’s backing. And it’s a mess. And if this were me, they’d be after me, they’d be after me so much, but they’re trying to get him a pass. And what’s going on is a disgrace to our country. And it’s all Biden’s fault, and everybody knows it. He’s got no message, he’s got no compassion and doesn’t know what he’s doing,” Trump continued, adding Biden is the “worst president in the history of our country.” The NYPD arrested an estimated 300 people at Columbia and City College overnight. Following the arrests, an encampment was established on Fordham University’s campus in the Bronx, with the school informing student protesters Wednesday afternoon that they are suspended and banned from campus. Trump is on the campaign trail in Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday before he heads back to Manhattan to resume trial proceedings Thursday morning.
Top Republicans double down on call for DOJ probe into Bragg’s ‘star witness’ Michael Cohen
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik are demanding the Justice Department investigate former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, alleging he committed perjury and “knowingly” made false statements while testifying before Congress in 2019. Turner, R-Ohio, and Stefanik, R-N.Y., first called for an investigation into Cohen in November, after the former Trump attorney admitted in his time on the stand during the trial stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil fraud lawsuit against the former president that the testimony he gave before the committee in 2019 was “knowingly and intentionally false.” NY V. TRUMP: HOUSE JUDICIARY INVESTIGATES BRAGG PROSECUTOR WHO HELD SENIOR ROLE IN BIDEN DOJ But Turner and Stefanik said they never received a response from the DOJ. “To date, we received no response from the Biden Justice Department regarding this criminal referral,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland Wednesday. “This is unacceptable.” Turner and Stefanik said the Biden DOJ “eagerly prosecuted two different former Trump senior presidential advisers – Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro – for contesting the lawfulness of a subpoena.” “In fact, the Biden Justice Department brought the first contempt-of-Congress prosecutions seen in nearly 40 years,” they said, adding that perjury and false statements before Congress “are crimes that undermine the integrity of the constitutional duty to conduct oversight and inquiries – far more so than contesting the lawfulness of a subpoena.” “Yet, despite an admission from Mr. Cohen that he lied under oath to Congress, the Biden Justice Department did nothing,” they wrote. “The double standard is glaring.” Turner and Stefanik accused Garland of having “politicized and weaponized the Biden Justice Department to help your boss and hurt his political enemy.” “You are trying to protect the reputation of an admitted perjurer, one who just so happens to be set to testify against former President Trump in New York,” they wrote. Meanwhile, Turner and Stefanik said what makes “the optics worse” is that a former senior Biden DOJ official, Matthew Colangelo, is a top prosecutor on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s team. Colangelo delivered the opening argument in Trump’s unprecedented and historic criminal trial. Turner and Stefanik said Cohen is being used as the prosecution’s “star witness,” despite the fact that he has been convicted of making false statements, and seemingly admitted perjury. “Colangelo, of course, is the senior political appointee who served as President Biden’s and your Acting Associate Attorney General, the third most powerful position in the Biden Justice Department, who deployed to Bragg’s office to bring the first indictment ever against a former president – who happens to be your boss’ political opponent,” they wrote. “Mr. Cohen clearly admitted to committing perjury before this Committee.” They added: “We urge you to stop politicizing and weaponizing the Biden Justice Department – and open a criminal investigation into whether Mr. Cohen committed perjury and knowingly made false statements to the Committee during his testimony in February 2019.” MICHAEL COHEN TIKTOK VIDEOS, FUNDRAISING STUN LEGAL OBSERVERS: MAY HAVE ‘TORPEDOED CASE AGAINST TRUMP’ A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed receipt of the letter from Turner and Stefanik, but declined to comment further. While on the stand during Trump’s non-jury civil trial stemming from James’ lawsuit in October, Cohen was presented with the transcript of his February 2019 testimony. When asked if he was being “honest” in front of the House Intelligence Committee in February 2019, Cohen testified: “No.” “So you lied under oath in February of 2019? Is that your testimony?” Trump attorney Alina Habba asked him. “Yes,” Cohen replied. When asked for comment in November after Turner and Stefanik initially referred him to the DOJ, Cohen told Fox News Digital that they “continue to do Donald’s bidding in witness tampering and obstructing justice.” “The two members fail to understand the distinction between explicit and implied; which is how the question was asked and accurately responded to,” Cohen. “The topic was further clarified several questions thereafter; which is conveniently and intentionally being ignored. I am not concerned at all with their baseless request.” Cohen added: “This is the type of harassment everyone, especially critics, should expect if Donald becomes president again!” Cohen, in 2018, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, making false statements to Congress and tax evasion. He was sentenced to three years in prison. Meanwhile, as for Colangelo, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, called for an investigation into his role at the Justice Department during the Biden administration.
House COVID committee calling for criminal probe into gain-of-function virus research in Wuhan
The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic is calling for a criminal probe into the origins of the COVID-19 virus. The demands for an investigation come after the release of an interim staff report accusing EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak of funding “dangerous gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China, without sufficient oversight.” “Overwhelming primary source documents and credible firsthand testimony gathered throughout the Select Subcommittee’s investigation provide significant evidence that Dr. Daszak repeatedly violated the terms of the NIH grant awarded to EcoHealth,” a Wednesday statement from the Committee on Oversight and Accountability reads. ECOHEALTH ALLIANCE PRESIDENT TO TESTIFY ON COVID ORIGINS, WUHAN LAB TAXPAYER-FUNDED RESEARCH It continues, “Given Dr. Daszak’s apparent contempt for the American people and disregard for legal reporting requirements the Select Subcommittee recommends the formal debarment of and a criminal investigation into EcoHealth and its President.” EcoHealth Alliance is a non-governmental organization based in the United States and focused on researching pandemic prevention. FBI DIRECTOR SAYS COVID PANDEMIC ‘MOST LIKELY’ ORIGINATED FROM CHINESE LAB According to congressional lawmakers, EcoHealth used taxpayer dollars “to fund dangerous gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV)” in China. Daszak publicly testified Wednesday before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. “The public nature of our work and our long standing collaborations with Chinese scientists have made us a target for misinformation about the origins of COVID,” Daszak told committee members at the Wednesday hearing. “Beginning in early 2020 and continuing to this day, we have repeatedly and refuted the many myths and false allegations about EcoHealth Alliance research.” “However, at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic seemed out of control and emotions were running high, our organization and our staff and even my own family were targeted with false allegations, death threats, break-ins, media harassment and other damaging acts,” he continued. “Our organization has gone to great lengths to address any allegations head on, checking our records and stating the facts publicly.” Fox News Digital previously reported that EcoHealth Alliance received millions of dollars in grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). U.S. taxpayer funds flowed to Chinese entities conducting coronavirus research through EcoHealth Alliance. Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
White House on anti-Israel protests: ‘Forcibly taking over a building is not peaceful’
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declared Wednesday that the forcible takeover of buildings by anti-Israel protesters on American college campuses “is not peaceful” while vowing that President Biden is monitoring the simmering unrest “closely.” Jean-Pierre spoke as demonstrators remained holed up inside the library at Portland State University in Oregon and hours after the NYPD arrested protesters who took over Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall. “We’ve been very clear on that Americans have the right to peacefully protest. They have a right to peacefully protest, as long as it’s within the law. And that it’s peaceful. Forcibly taking over a building is not peaceful. It’s just not,” Jean-Pierre said. “Students have the right to feel safe. They have the right to learn… And they have a right to feel safe on campus. They have a right to attend their commencement without feeling unsafe,” she continued. “And what we’re seeing is a small percentage of students, that’s what we’re seeing, they should not be able to disturb or disrupt the academic experience that students have.” LIVE UPDATES: ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS ON AMERICAN COLLEGE CAMPUSES Jean-Pierre also claimed that Biden is “not doing a both sides scenario here” when it comes to addressing supporters of Israelis and Palestinians. When asked why Biden hasn’t spoken himself today about the escalating violence and dramatic scenes unfolding at campuses such as UCLA, Jean-Pierre said “The president is being kept regularly updated on what’s happening. GUNS CONFISCATED FROM ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS AT UT AUSTIN, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA “He is monitoring the situation closely. So is his team,” she added. “And I would just add that no president, no president has spoken more forcefully about combating antisemitism than this president.” Jean-Pierre said it is up to colleges and universities to decide on the role that law enforcement will take in breaking up these protests and occupations. “This is a painful moment and we understand that for many communities,” she said. “And we know that these kinds of charge moments pose challenges for law enforcement.”
Outspoken pro-abortion governor gets speaking slot at Vatican summit
The Vatican invited Gov. Gavin Newsom to deliver remarks at its annual climate change summit in mid-May, despite the California Democrat’s social progressive track record that includes championing transgender surgeries for minors and leading a nationwide pro-abortion ad campaign. A spokesperson for Newsom’s office told Fox News Digital on Tuesday the governor will travel to the Vatican from May 15 to May 17. “While there, he will make remarks at the Summit and advance subnational climate work with a region in Italy,” the spokesperson said. Additional details about the governor’s agenda while in Rome will be available in the coming weeks, the spokesperson added. Newsom said in a statement that this year “holds unprecedented significance for democracy and the climate, two intertwined issues which will define our future.” POPE FRANCIS ALLOWS PRIESTS TO BLESS SAME-SEX COUPLES “With half the world’s population poised to elect their leaders amidst a backdrop of escalating political extremism, and global temperatures hurtling towards alarming new heights, the stakes could not be higher,” Newsom wrote. “There is no greater authority than moral authority – and the Pope’s leadership on the climate crisis inspires us all to push further and faster. I’m humbled to go to the Vatican to join the Pope in his call for climate action.” Newsom, who is Catholic, has touted progressive policies – often at odds with the Catholic Church’s dogma – in his state since he assumed office in 2019. The Vatican states that “human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception,” but Newsom has recently launched a pro-abortion campaign targeting states that have voted to restrict abortion access. This month, Newsom released an ad targeting Republican lawmakers in Alabama who are fighting against a bill that would allow women to travel out of state to seek abortions. He also announced that lawmakers will introduce legislation that would permit Arizona abortionists to travel to California to conduct abortions for Arizonans after the neighboring state upheld a near-total abortion ban in the Supreme Court in April. VATICAN SAYS GENDER THEORY, SURROGACY VIOLATE HUMAN DIGNITY IN ETHICS DOCUMENT The liberal governor also made California the first “sanctuary state” in 2022 for transgender children from more restrictive states seeking sex-change surgeries. Meanwhile, the Vatican also formally reaffirmed and expanded on the Catholic Church’s teaching regarding gender theory – which it holds as an inadmissible ideology – asserting that attempts to alter an individual’s immutable gender are ultimately misguided attempts to play God. However, same-sex couples can now be blessed by Catholic priests, following formal approval by the pontiff in December. The document says that “people seeking God’s love and mercy shouldn’t be subject to ‘an exhaustive moral analysis to receive it.’” Meanwhile, the church stands firm in its stance that marriage is a lifelong sacrament between a man and a woman, that blessings should not be given at the same time as a civil union, using set rituals or even with other actions or clothing related to weddings. NEWSOM IGNORING CALIFORNIA CRISES TO PROMOTE HIMSELF IN PRO-ABORTION CAMPAIGN, GOP LAWMAKERS SAY The summit, which was spearheaded by Pope Francis in 2022 after he deemed climate change an “ecological sin” caused by human negligence, is organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. According to the academy, so-called climate resilience “requires both cross-disciplinary partnerships among researchers, engineers, and entrepreneurs, as well as [transdisciplinary] partnerships between science and community leaders including faith leaders, NGOs, and the public.” “Mayors and Governors form the core of such transdisciplinary partnerships,” it says on its website. The Vatican did not respond to Fox News Digital’s multiple requests for comment by press deadline. Fox News’ Pilar Arias and Timothy H.J. Nerozzi contributed to this report.
Chinese money laundering criminals team up with Mexican cartels to menace US, officials warn Congress
Officials with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Treasury Department warned members of Congress this week about the escalating threats from Chinese money laundering. During a Tuesday hearing on Capitol Hill, U.S. senators heard repeated warnings about money coming into the United States from illicit means connected to China and how that money is funding illegal drugs, like fentanyl, from Mexico. “Criminals based in the People’s Republic of China have emerged as the professional money launderers of choice for Mexican drug traffickers seeking to move their funds around the world,” Kemp Chester, with the Office of National Drug Control Policy, told lawmakers. Authorities say Chinese money laundering organizations have grown in recent years, with offenders able to wash dirty money and clean it within minutes, thanks to the help of new technology. Tuesday, DEA and Treasury officials testified that the opioid supply chain is financed in part by money-laundering operations that originate in China. DEA REVERSES DECISION AGAINST LOUISIANA DRUG DISTRIBUTOR BLAMED FOR CONTRIBUTING TO OPIOID CRISIS “The relationship between Chinese money laundering organizations and Mexican cartels provides access to well-established money laundering networks operating in most metropolitan areas in the United States,” said William Kimbell, chief of operations at the DEA. OPINION: CHINESE ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSINGS SPIKE BY 7,000%. ONLY CHINA KNOWS WHY The Department of Justice recently announced a bust involving a Chinese money laundering cell with nearly $100 million in drug proceeds for a Mexican drug trafficking organization. In March, a grand jury indicted Enhua Fang, a North Carolina woman hiding in Utah. Court documents claim Fang would receive requests from Mexican drug-trafficking organizations for bulk cash pickups in the United States. “For every gram of fentanyl sold into America, there’s a chemical supply chain for every dollar of illicit fentanyl sold in America. We must ensure that dirty money cannot be hidden in our country or on its way back into the pockets of cartels, terrorists and other transnational criminals,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said Tuesday. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was in China in March and raised the issue of money laundering with Chinese officials. Yellen and her team have continued to participate in working groups in the United States to learn more to combat the problem.
Republicans accuse Biden of putting ‘more pressure on Israel’ than Hamas amid college riots
Republican senators on Wednesday accused President Biden of being more critical of U.S. ally Israel than the anti-Israel and antisemitic riots that have evolved out of protests on some college campuses across the country. “Joe Biden is putting more pressure on Israel these days than he is on Hamas itself or on the pro-Hamas chapters on America’s campuses,” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said during a press conference. Cotton said this wasn’t surprising, citing what he said were “antisemitic elements” of the Democratic Party that have been allowed to “fester and grow for years” under Biden’s watch. Biden has notably criticized Israel and let disagreements between the country and the U.S. be known publicly as Israel continues to battle the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza. SEN TIM SCOTT SLAMS ‘DISGUSTING’ COURT GAG ORDER RESTRICTING TRUMP’S ‘FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS’ Biden and his administration’s officials have on several occasions stressed concerns about Israel’s actions to curb civilian deaths as it fights Hamas. The president even threatened that U.S. policy toward Israel would be dependent on the country minimizing civilian casualties after seven aid workers were recently killed by an Israeli strike. An encampment protesting Israel’s actions initially began at Columbia University in New York City last month, escalating over the course of roughly two weeks with demonstrators ultimately taking over a campus building. After the building was taken over, the university opted to once again call in the New York City Police Department (NYPD), which arrested 108 people, giving each a trespassing summons. Following the beginning of Columbia’s encampment, which gained national media coverage, there have been at least 47 anti-Israel protests at the top 50 universities, as ranked by the U.S. News and World Report in 2024. SEN VANCE QUESTIONS DOJ ON COMPANIES FAVORING MIGRANT WORKERS OVER AMERICANS Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said Biden “could stop this stuff on a dime” if he chose, suggesting the president could call universities and threaten their federal funding to motivate them to break up the unruly demonstrations. However, he said, “It just goes to show you that even old people can s–k,” in reference to Biden, who is 81 years old. Kennedy also pointed to poor polling for the president, saying that Biden is not taking action because he is “scared to death to alienate the Hamas wing of the Democratic Party.” NY DEM SENS SCHUMER, GILLIBRAND AVOID COLUMBIA CAMPUS AS ‘SQUAD’ DESCENDS TO BACK AGITATORS Cotton excoriated the demonstrations, describing them as “little Gazas that have risen up on campuses across America.” He also called them “disgusting cesspools of antisemitic hate, full of pro-Hamas sympathizers.” “Fanatics and freaks,” Cotton added. According to the Arkansas senator, Biden needs to condemn the “Hamas campus sympathizers” without “equivocating about Israelis fighting a righteous war of survival.” SENATE GRIDLOCK COULD WORSEN WITH ROMNEY, SINEMA, MANCHIN RETIREMENTS: EXPERTS White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement Tuesday, “President Biden has stood against repugnant, antisemitic smears and violent rhetoric his entire life. He condemns the use of the term ‘intifada,’ as he has the other tragic and dangerous hate speech displayed in recent days. President Biden respects the right to free expression, but protests must be peaceful and lawful. Forcibly taking over buildings is not peaceful – it is wrong. And hate speech and hate symbols have no place in America.” However, Biden hasn’t made direct comments condemning the protests and riots and has not indicated any federal action. Cotton reiterated his calls on the departments of State, Homeland Security, Justice and Education to address the escalating protests and riots. He urged them to revoke visas for students participating and deport them, investigate any funding behind the protests, and stop funding schools that “won’t protect the civil rights of their Jewish students.” Cotton and Kennedy were joined by Republican Sens. James Lankford of Oklahoma, Rick Scott of Florida, Joni Ernst of Iowa, John Cornyn of Texas and Roger Marshall of Kansas. The White House did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital.
Americans increasingly worried about economy as election looms: poll
Americans have expressed increasing concern with the economy in recent months. The issue is outpaced only by immigration as their top concern. Seventeen percent of Americans rated the economy as the top problem facing the country, according to a Gallup poll released Monday. The concern over the economy has steadily risen over the last few months, rising from 12% in January and February to 14% in March before hitting its new recent high in April, the poll found. The poll trend comes just months before November’s presidential election, a contest in which the economy figures to play an outsize role in determining who emerges as the winner in a rematch between President Biden and former President Trump. HERE’S HOW BIDEN’S JOBS DATA COMPARES WITH TRUMP’S FIRST TERM President Biden has in recent months touted an economic comeback, pointing to low unemployment and faster-than-expected GDP growth. But concerns among Americans remain, with the Gallup poll coming on the heels of a CBS/YouGov poll last that showed voters in key battleground states such as Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania rating the issue as their top concern. According to Gallup, when combined with inflation and other factors, 36% of Americans see the economy as their top concern. BIDEN’S REVERSAL OF TRUMP POLICIES CREATED BORDER CRISIS, EXPERT SAYS: ‘INTENTIONALLY UNSECURED IT’ Meanwhile, immigration remains the most important individual problem facing the U.S. despite recent drops in illegal border crossings, the poll found. Twenty-seven percent of Americans rated immigration as the No. 1 issue the country faces, the third consecutive month the issue has topped the list of concerns. The poll comes even as the number of crossings at the southern border with Mexico have continued to decline in recent months, falling from an all-time high in December, when border agents encountered over 300,000 migrants attempting to cross the border. That number fell to just over 193,000 in March and continued to decline in April, with border agents encountering about 130,000 migrants attempting to enter the country. Speaking to Fox News Digital Tuesday, a White House spokesperson credited a joint effort with Mexico and enhanced U.S. enforcement efforts for turning the tide on the crisis, though many Americans remain unconvinced the issue isn’t a major problem. According to Gallup, immigration has topped its survey for most important issue four previous times since 2000, but 2024’s stretch of three months is the first time it has remained at the top for successive months. MIGRANTS CAUGHT ON NEW VIDEO STREAMING DOWN REMOTE CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINSIDE TO ILLEGALLY CROSS THE BORDER But the issue is also polarizing, Gallup notes, with Republicans being far more likely than Democrats to rate immigration as the top issue. In the latest version of the poll, 48% of Republicans rated immigration as the country’s top issue, while just 8% of Democrats felt the same way. Meanwhile, 25% of independents rated the issue as their top concern. Other issues at the top of mind for many Americans include the government, with 20% of respondents rating it as the top problem in the country. Gallup surveyed a sample of 1,001 adults living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia between April 1-22. The survey had a sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Reached for comment by Fox News Digital, a White House spokesperson pointed to recent remarks by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who said the administration understands “what Americans have gone through.” “We also understand that prices are still too high. They’re still too high, so this is why you hear us talk about junk fees. This is why you hear us talk about lowering prescription drugs… making sure that big corporations and billionaires pay their fair share,” she said. “And so, we’re going to do more work. And we’re hoping that message gets through to the American people.”
GOP rep looks to remove FAFSA aid for students convicted of rioting, assaulting police in Israel protests
Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, will soon introduce legislation that would withhold federal financial aid from student protesters convicted of rioting or attacking police in the latest wave of anti-Israel unrest, Fox News Digital has learned. Police have already arrested hundreds of student protesters for various crimes at anti-Israel encampments across the country. New York City police alone arrested roughly 300 students during late night clearing operations at Columbia University and City College of New York. “As a nation founded on principles of justice and respect for the rule of law, we must take a firm stance against violence and lawlessness, especially when directed at those who risk their lives to uphold order and protect our communities. My new legislation aims to send a clear message: if you assault a police officer or engage in rioting, you forfeit your right to federal financial aid,” Pfluger told Fox News Digital in a statement. “This is not a matter of political ideology but of basic decency and respect for our fellow citizens. The horrific antisemitic riots on college campuses across the country underscore the urgency of this issue. We cannot allow the persecution of Jewish Americans or any community to go unchecked,” he added. VIRGINIA TECH POLICE PHYSICALLY CARRY AWAY ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS AMID EFFORT TO RESTORE PEACE ON CAMPUS Pfluger, who chairs the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, went on to say that withholding federal financial support from those convicted will uphold the “safety and well-being of all Americans.” The lawmaker’s office says the final text of the bill is still being determined, but they expect to introduce it in the near future. TRUMP SAYS 4 WORDS ABOUT ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES AS ARRESTS SKYROCKET Clashes between anti-Israel agitators and police continue to take place across the country. Columbia University, the University of Texas at Austin, University of California at Los Angeles, Tulane University, the University of Florida and others have all brought in police to clear out protesters in recent days. Some of the protesters have dispersed peacefully, but many others have stayed for violent confrontations with police. CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY REVEALS ‘TRUE COST’ OF ANTI-ISRAEL MOB THAT TOOK OVER ACADEMIC BUILDINGS Administrators at Columbia noted that they believe outside agitators led the group that broke into and occupied Hamilton Hall on Tuesday. They also said the group of students forced the university’s security personnel from the building. The violence left administrators “no choice” but to call on the NYPD, they said. “We regret that protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through their actions. After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice,” administrators said in a statement. “Columbia public safety personnel were forced out of the building, and a member of our facilities team was threatened. We will not risk the safety of our community or the potential for further escalation.”